The Sum of our Choices
THE UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING
THE UNLIVED LIFE IS NOT WORTH EXAMINING
2 Passages this morning…
Galatians 6: 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Romans 12: 9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Our series for several weeks now has been about life… your life, my life, how we are living it, the choices we are making, God getting into our business and setting some things straight.
I’ll be honest… some of us need some tough love, and God has been extending that…
Our life is a sum of our choices…
A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
What are the choices you have been making lately?
This series has been about those choices…
• All the things that influence our life…
• Our devotional life… our prayer life…
• Our surrender to the Holy Spirit
• Getting out of our comfort zone…
• Rising up and remember that God has overcome, so live in victory…
Have we learned the lessons we have already discussed, or do we just go to the next lesson thinking the point is just to learn more, know more, and walk out feeling like “that was a great service”
Today you chose to come to church. Why? I mean, what do we come to church for?
• Don’t come out of a sense of duty… you’ll be bored.
• Don’t come just to put on a show… you’ll become religious
• Don’t come with made up expectations… you’ll miss what God really wanted to show you.
• Come to be inspired by God… hear His Word, Grow in faith…
• Come to seek the one true God… know Him, and walk with Him…
Our life is a sum of our choices…
A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
What are your choices lately…
There are lots of sum’s in life…
• The sum of our fears
• The sum of our choices
• The sum of our passions
• The sum of our faith
o (Faith the size of mustard seed moves mountains)
Our series has been about THE INHALE:
• When we worship, pray, fellowship with believers… when we study God’s word… these are all versions of the inhale… of the moment where we train for endurance to run the race well.
Tonight we talk about THE EXHALE [Ministry]
• 1 Cor. 9: 19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
This morning … the inhale.. Our life is a sum of our choices… Choose life with God!
THE IDEA OF THIS SERIES…
In Genesis Chapter 2 it states that God places into us the “breathe of life” so that we might take care of the Earth, work the ground, and become stewards of God’s creation.
Genesis 2: 7 the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Walking with God should become as simple as breathing. Something you don’t even think about… you just do it!
We are given the breathe of life every time we come together in worship, praise, prayer, study of God’s word… every time we guard the unity of the faith, and walk together in God’s purposes for mankind… we following through with the very essence of creation itself… God breathes life into us! and we breathe out work within the world, stewards of God’s creation. It is time again to focus in and breathe in the life of God… and then use that God given life to breathe out ministry… good works… bringing life to all of God’s creation… most importantly to humanity… we bring the gift of salvation, hope, and the promise of future…
WAYS WE LOSE OUR BREATH?!
Sometimes just getting older we lose our ability to take in deeper breathes.
Or because we are out of shape… we lose our breath quicker than we used to, we have no endurance.
What is taking your breath away lately? Been sucker punched… possibly even by yourself…
Made a stupid choice… or a string of stupid choices, left now to pick up the pieces and realizing how much those choices affect others?!
Moments when you get the breath knocked out of you… when I took marshal arts… (talk like English over Chinese on a movie) we were taught to hit at the soloplex… have a student come over to demonstrate…
Why do we hit in the soloplex… what happens when the breath is knocked out of you… Your paralyzed partially… can’t move, and now vulnerable…
This today is a revelation… THIS IS WHAT SATAN TRIES TO DO TO YOU ALL THE TIME…
God breathes life into you…
• Through His word
• Through Prayer
• Through Church
• Through Life Groups
• Through your Sunday school class
• Through your Christian friend that really is a Christian friend
What does our enemy do? Hit em in the soloplex…
Knock the wind out of them… if they don’t breathe in the things of God they won’t exhale life, ministry, purpose…
If you don’t walk with God… you can’t overcome! So satan keeps you as far away as possible, and keeps you paralyzed…
How are you breathing?
Been sucker punched this past year… it’s time to retune…
Stop trying really hard… and start training really hard!
A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
The irony, is that our choices not only affect us… but generations…
Deuteronomy 30:19b-20 “Therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days.”
The story is told of two brothers. One of them would carry a letter to the grave that could have set the record straight, but I will tell you about that later.
There was a man whose name was Edwin Thomas, a master of the stage (PP-3). During the latter half of the 1800’s, this small man with a huge voice had few rivals. Debuting in Richard lll at the age of fifteen, he found unrivalled success with his abilities to act out the great dramas of Shakespeare. In New York City, for one hundred consecutive nights he performed Hamlet and even in London where the tough British critics lived he one favor in their hearts with his acting skills.
When it came to difficulties in life, Edwin Thomas was quite acquainted with those also. Edwin Thomas was not alone for he had two brothers, John and Junius. They too, were actors, although they were not nearly as gifted as was Edwin. In 1863, the three brothers performed together in Julius Caesar (PP-4). The fact that Edwin’s brother took the role of Brutus was almost an eerie foreboding of what was to occur in just in the brother’s lives in just two years. One little decision would not only affect the brothers but an entire nation.
This same John who played the assassin in Julius Caesar is the same John who would play the role of assassin in Ford’s Theatre. On a dark April night in 1865 with the Civil War pulling at the heart and soldiers of a divided nation, John walked into the theater and fired a bullet at the head of Abraham Lincoln. . . . See, the last name of the brothers was Booth—Edwin Thomas Booth and John Wilkes Booth. (PP-5)
That night would mark Edwin forever. He would never be the same again. The shame from his brother’s crime drove him into retirement. He might have never returned to the stage had it not been for a twist of fate at a New Jersey train station. Edwin was awaiting his coach when a well-dressed young man, pressed by the crowd, lost his footing and fell between the platform and the moving train. Without hesitation, Edwin locked a leg around the railing, grabbed the man, and pulled him to safety. After the sighs of relief, the young man recognized the famous Edwin Booth.
Edwin, however, did not recognize the young man whom he had rescued. That knowledge would come to him a few weeks later in a letter, a letter that he would carry in his pocket to his grave. A letter from General Adams Budeau, chief secretary to General Ulysess S. Grant. A letter thanking Edwin Booth for saving the life of the child of an American hero, Abraham Lincoln. How ironic that while one brother killed the president, the other brother saved the president’s son. The boy that was yanked to safety was none other than Robert Todd Lincoln.
Start sowing differently… this is where our second passage comes in…
Romans 12 gives us an amazing list of ways God has called us to live…
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Stop being selfish…
Start looking out for others… truly love…
Hate what is evil… quit clinging to things in the shadows…
Cling to what is good… celebrate God, life, and faith
Or better put…
Stop being selfish or ignoring we have problems… start training better and take a deep breath of the things God is doing…
I love this… 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Zeal: eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of something
Fervor: intensity of feeling or expression
This is not saying be fake… but it is saying we should be passionate…
Be real, but have some Zeal!
(when did walking with God become something without emotion, feelings)
It’s a part of who we are … when David realizes the arc is found he dances before God out of Zeal… he’s rebuked by the wet blankets who think he’s gone to far… we need some zeal people.
We are a sum of our choices, don’t be the sum of your fears…
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear – Mark Twain.
During World War II, Winston Churchill was forced to make a painful choice. The British secret service had broken the Nazi code and informed Churchill that the Germans were going to bomb Coventry. He had two alternatives: (1) evacuate the citizens and save hundreds of lives at the expense of indicating to the Germans that the code was broken; or (2) take no action, which would kill hundreds but keep the information flowing and possibly save many more lives. Churchill had to choose and followed the second course. I happen to think that he did the right thing; he had to take a long-term view of things. Faith means when choosing looking at the long-term implications. There is in our culture today an attitude of just live for the moment and whilst there is wisdom in living one day at a time only living for today is mistaken. Faith means we believe that there is a future, that God has a plan, that heaven is real and that affects our choices in life.
We need a move of God… we need revival… we need to reach out city…
Our life is a sum of our choices…
So train, be ready, go deeper, walk farther…
Choose life with God!
11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Some of us need a shot of zeal!!! Some Fervor!!!!
Some excitement about life, God, future… where is it?!
It’s been sucked out of us by life… hit in the soloplex! Paralyzed for a moment, vulnerable…
God says get back up, and breathe deeply the things of God…
Go back, or maybe for the first time… into real training… for the real life God intends…
11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
I mean if you say you believe in something but show no joy in it!!!????
I don’t believe you… (do the voice like someone is monotone and not excited… how’s life? It’s fine…)
It’s time to rise up… get back up… and take our place as that city on a hill… A light of hope that is easily found… and then truth is there when you go!!
As a church… Our life is a sum of our choices…
The Goal: “Find your breath again… and live life to the full.”
John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
WHERE DO WE START THE PROCESS:
1. Catch your breath –
a. Examine your own heart
b. 2 Cor. 13:5 Examine yourselves to see if you’re in the faith; test yourselves.
c. THE UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING
d. THE UNLIVED LIFE IS NOT WORTH EXAMINING
2. Start working out (get in shape)
a. How we will train is how we will react, interact, and live.
b. Get in shape…
i. Mentally
ii. Physically
iii. Spiritually
c. 1 Cor. 9: 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
A key to this: Life is a marathon, not a sprint!
3. Seek God, pray, He will hear…
a. A key verse for this series… for LIFE:
b. 2 Chron. 7:14
i. If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray…
ii. God says… I will hear
iii. God promises… I will heal your land…
If there was ever a time where we needed the breath of God… it’s today. For the Lord to rain down upon us…
Our life is a sum of our choices…
The sum of walking with Christ
should lead to a life of shear joy!
Joyful in hope… patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer…
